San Diego Con Report - Day Four!

What happened to reports for days 2 and 3? Well, I was having so much fun I couldn't get back to the computer. Here's a quick rundown of some panel highlights:

DARK HORSE PANEL: We showed some clips of MY NAME IS BRUCE to a packed and wildly appreciative crowd, followed by an appearance by Mr. Campbell himself. Who proceeded to deliver a riotous series of bon mots in response to audience questions, and even gave an especially vociferous fan $2.00 for a high compliment. I sat mutely on stage and watched the master at work. I think the only real way to describe the event is... "groovy."

Dark Horse had the BRUCE trailer on a continuous loop down at their booth, and since BRUCE was shot in high-def, it looks friggin' amazing! Prints are currently being struck and Bruce himself intends to tour 20 to 30 cities this Fall, so keep your eyes peeled for MY NAME IS BRUCE at a theater near you! (Assuming, as Bruce said, you live near a major metropolitan area!)

BATTLESTAR PANEL: Jam packed as usual with literally thousands of enthusiastic fans. Kevin Smith was a funny and blisteringly profane toast-master who elicited a lot of good stuff from the assembled cast. Plus there was a trailer with some new scenes from the next bunch of shows (with a lot of material from the episode I wrote, he notes proudly). It's always amazing to feel the intensity of the crowd at these events.

SMALLVILLE PANEL: My old pals Kelly Souders, Brian Peterson, Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer have gone and taken the reins of the show, so I was there in a front row seat (well, they snuck me in) and had a great time watching clips of the old and the new and seeing the cast. Alison Mack is cute and funny as ever. Always liked that Chloe. And the best Q & A session of the show!

THE REST OF THE CON: It's insanely busy/crowded and the hotels are getting prohibitively expensive, but it's still fun. I found some old funny books, bumped into a lot of old friends, enjoyed some nice dinners and just generally had a good time until I was too tired to keep having a good time. (In the old days I would have kept going until I hit terminal exhaustion, but I guess experience and good sense trumped idiocy this year.) Bottom line? See ya next year...

San Diego Con Report - Day One (Thurs.)

This report will be easy, because so far I haven't seen anything except a lot of cars, a hotel lobby and a hotel room. It took 5 1/2 hours to make the drive from Los Angeles to San Diego (that's long, traffic was especially awful this trip), so I arrived after the convention had already closed for the day. Ah nuts.

I hope tomorrow's report has slightly more information...

Robert Gordon, Chris Spedding, Making Music

You don't usually get to see the sausage being made when it comes to recording albums (the Beatles and their "Let It Be" sessions being one enormous exception), but here's a peek. Rockabilly singer Robert Gordon and guitarist Chris Spedding were captured in the midst of some small studio frustration by a Danish film-crew. The narration is in Danish but you quickly get the gist of things anyway...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM0qXHZcI44&feature=email

My San Diego Comicon Schedule

It's actually very simple this year, the only panel I'm planning to appear on is the Dark Horse presentation, 12:00 to 1:00 on Saturday, Room 2. I believe there may be a special appearance by a certain Mr. B.C., but regardless, clips from the long awaited My Name Is Bruce have been promised. Since I don't actually arrange any of this stuff, I can't make any promises, but hey, I'll be there. (I can hear the stampede down to the hall already... ha ha... ha...)

BSG's Final Season Begins 1/09

The official word came down at the TCA's today, straight from the big man's lips (Dave Howe); BSG season the last will unspool beginning January 2009.

There was also a whole heap o' Caprica news... as usual, for the straight dope and many useful links go to

http://galacticasitrep.blogspot.com/

Nothing much I can add, except having read the pilot script, I'll just say Caprica is as fascinating, daring and intriguing as Battlestar, though in a completely different way. I know what you're thinking, what does THAT mean? Is it shot in Smell-o-vision? Do the characters speak backwards? Is it powerful, thought-provoking drama? If you picked "C", you win...

I'm Sorry, But WHO Wrote Timecop?

Probably seems silly to be "splitting hairs" over a writing credit from a 1994 Jean-Claude Van Damme movie, but...

Today's Los Angeles Times has a glowing profile of Dark Horse Comics/Entertainment chief Mike Richardson. It's a great piece and since Mike's one of my oldest friends, I couldn't be happier for his success. (Honest. This isn't one of those Hollywood "hoping the other guy fails" deals; Mike really deserves all the kudos in the world.) But in the article, the author claims that Mike "wrote" Timecop, and that's... not quite right.

If this seems like a sore point, you're right. And it leads to another strange, sad but curious story from my usually boring past. Way back in 1997, a fellow named Gary Devore disappeared while driving in the California desert. Devore was a successful screenwriter and his disappearance was very puzzling, because when he vanished, he vanished. No notes, no body, nothing. As time wore on, it got strange to the point that multiple scary/crazy conspiracy theories erupted. His body was finally discovered trapped inside his car in an aquaduct near Palmdale in 1998, and the mystery was sadly solved. It appeared that Devore had fallen asleep at the wheel and his car had crashed into some fairly deep water, where it lay out for view for almost a year.

But there was also this (clipped from Devore's IMDB page):

(Devore)...disappeared on June 28 after his car apparently slid off the road into a California Aqueduct where his body remained undiscovered for a year. His mysterious disappearance prompted an amateur sleuth to retrace his route (tracked by credit card receipts for gas and cell phone records) and contact the California Highway Patrol with his theory of running off into the canal. The CHP was initially skeptical due to the lack of damage of the overpass' guard rails but they soon discovered pieces of auto body parts that matched his Ford. Divers were called in and his SUV was located in the canal.

The story of this prescient "sleuth" was yet another curious wrinkle, giving the tragedy a little extra "oomph" in the local news cycle.

At any rate, this very sad and tragic event was quite the news-story at the time. And what does ANY of this have to do with me and TIMECOP? Well... because Devore had done a dialogue pass on TIMECOP the movie, somehow that became the credit that kept being mentioned when the case hit the news. In fact, when Devore's body was finally discovered, I received several panicked calls from friends wondering if I were, well, "deceased," since all they'd heard in the promos for the news shows was "Timecop Writer Found Dead."

At any rate, and since I have the carpel tunnel to prove it, yours truly wrote the first FIVE drafts of TIMECOP the movie, as well as all the comic book scripts. Mike Richardson and I co-created the story, which is why we share a story credit on the movie, while I have sole screenplay credit. We kibitzed constantly during the scripting, but the guy with his fingers at the keys was moi. And if the author of the L.A. Times article had, oh, CHECKED THE ACTUAL CREDITS (and bought a DVD while he was at it, I could use the residuals!), perhaps this small fact wouldn't have eluded his attention.

But at least he didn't credit it to poor Gary Devore...

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/
2008/07/welcome-to-milw.html

Coming Soon...

I may have some actual news to report on future projects "soon", but at the moment everything is hush-hush, top-secret, in the lock box, SHHHHH. Doesn't mean things have slowed to a crawl around Casa Verheiden, quite the contrary actually, but the people who pay for this stuff are funny. They would like to control the flow of information, maybe even coordinate it, so it has maximum impact and actually accurately reflects the status of the project. That coordination usually doesn't include one of the participants prematurely spilling the beans on his rather primitive blog-site...

Let's just say there's a lot of stuff that I'm excited about, and I hope (fingers crossed) others will find equally engaging...

Alan Moore SPEAKS

Author (with Dave Gibbons) of Watchmen, V For Vendetta and a host of other seminal comic book works, Alan Moore is interviewed by Entertainment Weekly upon the release of the trailer for the Watchmen movie. (Hint: he's not interested.)

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20213004,00.html

Talk Radio's Michael Savage & Autism

I rarely go to the political with this blog, but some talk show freak named Michael Savage recently claimed that autism is mostly a parental discipline problem, as in these poor kids just need a good whack. And just when it seemed like society might be emerging from the dark ages re: this condition...

Steve Young at the Huffington Post and a guest writer who faces autism head-on express my outrage most eloquently...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-young/
a-savage-betrayal-of-huma_b_113510.html

Watchmen Trailer...

Is this the age of the "comic book movie" or what? Watchmen, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, was and is one of the best American graphic novels ever, and now it's a big ol' movie. This trailer will be attached to the Dark Knight prints unspooling tonight, but it's also available on line...

http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/watchmen/med.html

And The Nominees Are...

Six Emmy nominations for Battlestar Galactica this year! Congratulations to everyone for the much deserved recognition, but I have to add a special "hoorah" for Mr. Michael An-jelly for a job well done.

Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series
Battlestar Galactica • Six Of One
Written By Michael Angeli

Outstanding Cinematography For A One-Hour Series
Battlestar Galactica • Razor
Stephen McNutt, Director of Photography

Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Drama Series
Battlestar Galactica • He That Believeth In Me
Julius Ramsay, Editor

Outstanding Special Visual Effects For A Series
Battlestar Galactica • He That Believeth In Me
Gary Hutzel, Visual Effects Supervisor
Michael Gibson, Visual Effects Producer
David Takemura, Visual Effects Coordinator
Doug Drexler, CGI Supervisor
Kyle Toucher, CG Artist
Sean Jackson, CG Artist
Pierre Drolet, CG Modeler
Aurore de Blois, Senior Compositor
Derek Ledbetter, Compositor

Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (One-Hour)
Battlestar Galactica • Razor
Rick Bal, Production Mixer
Michael Olman, C.A.S., Supervising Re-Recording Mixer
Kenneth Kobett, C.A.S., Supervising Re-Recording Mixer

Outstanding Special Class - Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Programs
Battlestar Galactica - Razor Featurette #4
Ronald D. Moore, Executive Producer
David Eick, Executive Producer
Harvey Frand, Supervising Producer

(Thanx to Galactica Sitrep for the easy-to-copy list!)

Dark Knight Some More...

My buddy Marv Wolfman weighs in, and hoorah, we are in total agreement. This is one great movie!

http://marvwolfman.com/labels/Dark%20Knight.html

Saturday In San Diego - Be There!

The schedule for Saturday events at the San Diego Comic Con is up, and below are some of the events that pique my interest. Unfortunately some events butt heads with others, but so it goes. I may well be visiting the Dark Horse panel at 12:15, and I'll be cheering from the audience during the Battlestar event at 2:15. Attendance at other events will depend on how much sleep I got the night before...

The full schedule can be found at http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci08_prog_sat.php. Other days have also been posted...

10:45-11:45 Heroes: Exclusive First Look at “Villains” and Q&A with the Entire Cast, Tim Kring, and Tim Sale— Heroes chronicles the lives of ordinary people who discover they possess extraordinary abilities. Watch an exclusive first look at “Chapter 3: Villains.” Moderated by co-executive producer/comic book writer Jeph Loeb, participating in a Q&A session with creator Tim Kring, comic book artist Tim Sale (Batman: The Long Halloween), and the cast: Jack Coleman (H.R.G.), Greg Grunberg (Matt Parkman), Ali Larter (Niki Sanders), James Kyson Lee (Ando Masahashi), Masi Oka (Hiro Nakamura), Hayden Panettiere (Claire Bennet), Adrian Pasdar (Nathan Petrelli), Zachary Quinto (Sylar), Sendhil Ramamurthy (Mohinder Suresh), Dania Ramirez (Maya Herrera), Cristine Rose (Angela Petrelli), and Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli). Hall H
Categories: Comic Books | Superheroes | Television

11:00-12:00 Watching the Watchmen— Author and artist Dave Gibbons (Watchmen) and Entertainment Weekly writer Jeff Jenson discuss the hugely anticipated Watching the Watchmen with the book’s designers Chip Kidd (Mythology, Jurassic Park, Batman Collected) and Mike Essl. Hear Dave Gibbons’ account of the genesis of Watchmen in this exclusive interview and Q&A session! Includes a presentation of rare material from the upcoming book. Room 7AB
Categories: Comic Books | Superheroes | Writers & Writing

11:30-12:30 Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Screening and Q&A— Back for a second year at Comic-Con, the producers and stars of this hit action-adventure drama will debut the trailer for season two and answer questions from fans during this one-hour session. Executive producers Josh Friedman (War of the Worlds), John Wirth (The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.) and James Middleton (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines) will be joined by returning series stars Lena Headey (300), Thomas Dekker (Heroes), Summer Glau (Serenity), Brian Austin Green (Beverly Hills, 90210) and Richard T. Jones (Event Horizon), as well as new series regulars Garret Dillahunt (No Country for Old Men) and musician Shirley Manson (Garbage). Produced by C2 Pictures in association with Warner Bros. Television, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles returns for a second season September 8 and airs Mondays at 8:00 PM ET/PT on FOX. Room 6A
Categories: Science Fiction & Fantasy | Television

12:00-1:00 Dark Horse Comics— Dark Horse director of publicity Jeremy Atkins and a host of Dark Horse editors and creators present a firsthand look at the future of comics. You will be given insight into the next chapter of the breakout hit series The Umbrella Academy, as well as a look at what the future holds for all of your other favorite series and characters. With exciting announcements and surprise guests, you won't want to be anywhere else. Room 2
Categories: Comic Books

12:45-1:45 Exclusive Q&A with the writers of The Office— Meet the writers of the EmmyAward–winning comedy The Office and hear them talk about their favorite episodes, characters, and fun behind-the-scenes stories. Moderated by cast member Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute), panelists include executive producer/showrunner Greg Daniels (The Simpsons) and writers Jennifer Celotta (Andy Richter Controls the Universe), Michael Schur (Saturday Night Live), B.J. Novak, Lester Lewis (The Larry Sanders Show), Gene Stupnitsky (Year One), Lee Eisenberg (Year One), Mindy Kaling (Matt and Ben), Justin Spitzer (Scrubs), Ryan Koh (various commercials), and Anthony Ferrell (The Audacity). Room 6A
Categories: Humor & Satire | Television | Writers & Writing

12:45-2:00 DC: A Guide to Your Universe— Dan DiDio (senior VP/executive editor, DCU), Jann Jones (senior coordinating editor, DCU), and Ian Sattler (senior story editor, DCU), and countless DCU talent gather for a panel that’s not to be missed. Now that the Final Crisis is upon us, what lies ahead for your favorite heroes? Join Keith Giffen (Reign in Hell, Ambush Bug: Year None), Geoff Johns (Action Comics, Green Lantern), Aaron Lopresti (Wonder Woman), Brad Meltzer (DCU: Last Will and Testament), Grant Morrison (Batman, Final Crisis), Gail Simone (Wonder Woman), Phillip Tan (Final Crisis: Revelations), Peter Tomasi (Green Lantern Corps), Judd Winick (Titans), and others to get the answers. Room 6B
Categories: Comic Books | Comic-Con Special Guest Spotlights & Appearances

2:15-3:15 Battlestar Galactica— Last year, Battlestar Galactica took San Diego by storm. Now the best show on television returns to Comic-Con for a panel filled with excitement, laughter, and a sneak peek into the final revelation. Focusing on the character relationships that give this hit series its power, this exclusive panel sheds new light on the ties between Humans and Cylons and provides valuable insight into the adventure ahead. Panelists include cast members Tricia Helfer, James Callis, Michael Trucco, and Katee Sackhoff and executive producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick, along with moderator Kevin Smith. Ballroom 20
Categories: Science Fiction & Fantasy | Television

2:30-3:30 Scott Shaw!: Oddball Comics— Now regularly seen in the pages of Geek Monthly, cartoonist Scott Shaw! (Captain Carrot and the Final Ark, Bart Simpson Comics) brings back his ever-popular digital slide show featuring “the craziest comic books ever published!” This year, Scott celebrates Herbie, The Fat Fury, now back in print from Dark Horse! See why Stan Lee said, “Wow, True Believers, I thought I'd seen it all, but Scott Shaw's hysterically hilarious Oddball Comics is the wildest, wackiest exposé of some of the craziest comic books I've ever seen! Or, to put it mildly, Scott's outrageous opuses are a blast, blast, blast!” [Okay, so I added those last two “blasts.” —SS!] Room 5AB
Categories: Comic Books | Fandom | Humor & Satire

3:00-4:30 MAD in the ’60s— Comic-Con special guests Sergio Aragonés, Al Feldstein, and Al Jaffee join Mark Evanier for this free-wheeling discussion about the go-go years of one of America's biggest publishing success stories, the one and only—but often imitated—MAD magazine! Room 8
Categories: Cartooning and Comic Strips | Comic Books | Comic-Con Special Guest Spotlights & Appearances | Humor & Satire | Writers & Writing

5:30-6:30 The World of Steve Ditko Panel Discussion— Author Blake Bell (Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko) presents a slide show and discusses the artwork and career of Steve Ditko (co-creator of Spider-Man and Dr. Strange) with panelists Jim Starlin (Captain Marvel, Dreadstar), Kim Deitch (Shadowland, The Stuff of Dreams), Carl Potts (Alien Legion), Dean Mullaney (IDW's Library of American Comics), and Gary Groth (co-publisher, Fantagraphics). Room 4
Categories: Comic Books | Comic-Con Special Guest Spotlights & Appearances | Superheroes

5:30-6:30 Spotlight on Len Wein— The writer who gave us Swamp Thing, The New X-Men, Wolverine, Brother Voodoo, memorable runs on all the top DC and Marvel titles and many more, was one of the first fans to become a professional writer...and editor at both companies. Comic-Con special guest Len Wein joins moderator Mark Evanier for a discussion on Len's 30+ years in the industry as one of comics' most popular talents. Room 8
Categories: Comic Books | Comic-Con Special Guest Spotlights & Appearances | Writers & Writing

6:00-7:00 TV Guide— TV Guide takes an in-depth look at some of the new and returning TV series, featuring the hottest TV talent—in front of the camera and behind the scenes. TV Guide executive editor Craig Tomashoff moderates this panel offering the inside scoop, with some fun surprises. Participants include (in alphabetical order) Josh Applebaum (executive producer, Life on Mars), Jaimie Alexander (Kyle XY), Matt Dallas (Kyle XY), Javier Grillo-Marxuach (creator, The Middleman), Ronald Moore (executive producer, Virtuality), Natalie Morales (The Middleman), Jason O’Mara (Life on Mars), and Jason Smilovic (executive producer, My Own Worst Enemy), among other special guests. Room 6B
Categories: Science Fiction & Fantasy | Television

Wrap Party ala Mojo

Special effects wiz and all around good guy Mojo tells the tale of the Battlestar Galactica final wrap party far better than I... with pictures! Check out Mojo's blog at:

http://darthmojo.wordpress.com/2008/07/08/
bsg-wrap-party-part-one/#more-451

Battlestar Galactica - NOW That's A Wrap

Battlestar Galactica's principle photography wrapped at 5:30-ish AM this morning... though of course there is still tons to do to get these last eleven episodes ready for the screen. Our post production team will be working away for months yet, editing, creating the special FX, music and dubbing and all the rest. Huge revelations are coming your way, with a multitude of questions answered once and for all... some sooner in the run than you may expect.

Meanwhile, it is onward, upward and sideways for BSG's merry band of writers and producers...

Green Lights...

"Green light" is the familiar term used when a movie or TV show or pick-project-of-choice is okayed to go into production. When you have the green light, theoretically that should mean that all systems are go, people, places and things are set, and now it's off to the races.

But that term has always been sorely abused. We all want everything we do to be "green lit", of course, and it's only human nature to put the most optimistic spin on situations. If you've worked in the entertainment field for more than three minutes, then you've had someone tell you with pride and big smiley enthusiasm that their latest effort was "just green lit" and they're busy trying to figure out the best Swiss Bank in which to contain their so-to-be delivered loot. If you've been in the business more than three months, you've also noticed that an enormous number of these green-lit, guaranteed, set in stone projects never actually get made. Are these folks liars? No. Sometimes "stuff happens" and that green light gets smashed by a change in production regime or a suddenly cranky star or today's horoscope.

The point here isn't to excoriate people for being overly optimistic, but not to get THAT invested in the latest internet rumor or dropped hint re: this or that project being "ready to go." Until you hear something official from the actual production company, all rumors are still just that... rumors.

And please don't infer anything or start rumors based on that!

There's WALL-E and Then There's...

Mere words can't describe it.

http://www.freakyflickersthemovie.com/trailer.html

(Thanks to "Cartoon Brew" for the heads-up.)

UPDATE: Evidently the site's been pulled. Phooey!

The Dark Knight...

Caught a screening of the new Batman movie last night. I went in wondering if the hype re: the late Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker would somehow inflate expectations into the impossible-to-fulfill range, but no. In a film where everyone is uniformly excellent (I am especially impressed at the range of emotion Christian Bale can elicit behind a great big mask), Heath Ledger's performance is truly remarkable. Forget the Jack Nicholson cackle, Ledger's version of the Joker goes to a very bad and ugly place. He is a shaky, diabolical terrorist-lunatic, and genuinely scary.

If IRON MAN was the up-beat, poppy superhero brought to glorious life, then DARK KNIGHT is the scarred flip-side of the coin. There are plenty of great action scenes, but at its core this is an exploration into the moral ambiguity of noble intentions... making it one of the darkest big-budget "superhero" movies ever made. That's a big ol' thumbs up in my book!

Naming Names...

Figuring out names for your characters in a new script can be torturous. Your hero is usually the easiest, since movie law dictates that their first name must be something staccato and manly ("Jack", "Nick", "Max", etc.) and the last name relatively easy to pronounce. If it's not easy to pronounce, then that itself becomes a character quirk ("Damn it, Krinowieski, get your (pick ethnic slur of choice) ass down to headquarters now!")

But for others, trying to find something new and unusual can be tough. I used to pore through the phone book, but you have to wade through a lot of Smith and Jones type names to find something interesting. But I have discovered an easier solution...

Just go through any political blog, doesn't matter what persuasion, liberal, conservative, nutball (though those can be the most interesting). For some reason, people in political life have some of the coolest names. Just scanning down one blog this morning, I found the following: Perriello, Ambinder, Culvahouse, Pawlenty, Bendixson, Taddeo, Bordallo, Visclosky, Oberstar... and that's just in three minutes. A little more looking and you can populate your story with some of the most interesting names, and get politically incensed/enthused at the same time!

And I Thought I Was Obsessive!

So I like the Beatles. I wouldn't call myself an uber-fan, but I certainly have all their CDs in various incarnations and varied and sundry other items of interest. But there are fans and there are fans, and I just received a whopper of a book by the latter...

"The Anthology of The Beatles Records" is a two volume, slip-cased, 1370 page (!) tome with 4000 color illustrations documenting just about every single Beatles release from day one to the closing date of publication (11/2007). I say "just about" because even the author admits there's no way to know definitively if he's collected every possible iteration of every 45RPM label from, say, Switzerland... but if he missed it, it's not for trying. This massive tome also comes with a brand new vinyl 45 Beatles single on a vintage Polydor label and sleeve, color postcards and if you really want to go for the gusto, you can get the thing autographed by Tony Sheridan, Astrid Kirchherr and Klaus Voormann. (If you don't know who they are, you'll never get a book like this anyway.)

At any rate, if you thought the Beatles catalog was limited to the 15 or 16 official albums they released while still recording, you've got another think coming. Not that there are revelations of new music, per se... we're talking about the endless repackagings of their library, with different covers, label styles, photography and even occasionally different mixes.

Here's some of their official blurb:

"More than 1300 pages, more than 4000 color photos! Complete discography from 1962 till our days! Some records have been documented for the first time! New countries have been added to the discography: Belarus, Uzbekistan, Republic of Geaorgia, Latvia."

This sort of scholarship doesn't come cheap; it's 260 Euros (sans autographs) straight from Germany, or close to $500 (damn this exchange rate!). But if this sort of madness strikes a chord, or you need one heck of a doorstop, check it out at www.something-books.com.

Toasters!

Even I ordered one of these... somebody's being pretty clever over at the NBC/Universal marketed department.

http://www.nbcuniversalstore.com/?v=sci-fi_battlestar
-galactica_comic-con&pa=SciFiem070808

Joe Cocker Articulates...

I don't do the video referral thing much, but this one's pretty good. Legendary singer Joe Cocker's Woodstock version of "With A Little Help From My Friends" is interpreted for those of us for whom English remains our first language.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=T4_MsrsKzMM

(Thanks to J. Goins for the ref, and check out his Beatles blog, url to the right!)

Ketchup...

Blogging has been a bit sporadic, I've been swamped the last few weeks -- which is good! Most of what I've been doing is at that delicate "talking stage" and hence remains secured in the unmentionables drawer for now. Much of the writing life involves the frighteningly prosaic act of mulling things over, and while the "life of the mind" provided much fodder for the Coen Brothers (Barton Fink, see it!), in real life it considers of sitting at the computer and banging around ideas in between thrilling sessions of solitaire.

The Battlestar wrap party was last Saturday night and it was a joyous if somewhat bittersweet event. I had a chance to chat with Michael Hogan (Tigh) and he really put his finger on it; Battlestar's been a wonderful experience, but this thing we do, whether it's writing or acting or whatever, is by definition a nomadic existence. I always assume that my "best work", whatever that is, lies ahead, and while Battlestar's certainly set the bar a lot higher, I still believe that. It's a big ol' exciting world out there... meanwhile, we're still shooting the finale episode(s) and I'm still working on various finish-up stuff, so wrap party aside, over doesn't really mean over until it's over...

In other news, it appears that I'll be involved in the Dark Horse panel at the big San Diego convention later in July. Bruce Campbell will also put in an appearance and clips from the long awaited My Name Is Bruce will be on display. I haven't got an exact time yet but it will be Saturday, and hopefully won't collide with the Battlestar panel, which promises to be a star-studded affair. Otherwise I don't have any panels scheduled, so I'll just be wandering the halls looking at a expensive comic books and meeting up with old pals.

More as it becomes available!

MY NAME IS BRUCE - Bruce Campbell Blabs

It's been awhile since I reported on the long-awaited (at least by me, since I wrote it!) feature release MY NAME IS BRUCE. But last I heard, we're still on track for some theatrical play this October, then a DVD release in January 2009. Of course I have about as much influence over that as I do the temperature, so "changes may occur"... but that was the last best plan. There may be other, better plans, and if I learn of them, I will bring them to your attention post-haste!

Meanwhile, star/director Mr. Bruce Campbell himself chit-chatted about the movie and his role on Burn Notice with the folks at Fangoria. The result can be found at:

http://www.fangoria.com/fearful_feature.php?id=6841

Times Flies...

...when you're running around doing all sorts of stuff. The screenwriting business thrives on "meetings," as in face-to-face discussions to mull the entire litany of "what's next." One of the wiser pieces of advice I received many years ago from an experienced feature screenwriter was quite revealing: a "career" is based 50% on talent and 50% on relationships. I would add to that, "and an unqualifiable percentage is based on the fact that you're not insane."

People want to know you can do the job, but they also want to know their lives won't become an unbearable hell getting that work out of you. And I totally understand, because the inverse is also true. As I continue to meander through the world, "quality of life" in terms of work environment has become of paramount importance. It is a cliche, but life really is too short to spend it working at some endeavor that makes you miserable. And a bad environment, especially working in television, can be devastating. Because nobody (that I've ever met) becomes a writer because it was a close second to investment banking or roof maintenance... you write because you have to, because it fulfills some need, and yes, because you love it. When you find yourself in a situation that systematically pounds that love out of you, it's like discovering your girlfriend is dating your sister. It's just wrong and destructive on SO many levels. (And no, I don't have a sister!)

Of course, you don't have always have a choice in these matters. (Well, I suppose you do, but "starving" or leaving the business entirely is usually less attractive than taking even the most difficult job.) And there is a school of thought that experiencing/enduring the worst the business can offer is one way of toughening up for the future. But that can be like bouncing back after losing an arm; I suppose there is some value in realizing you can handle anything, but ultimately, you kind of wish you had your arm back. When a job chips away at your affection for the whole writing process, you're losing something less quantifiable but equally difficult to retrieve.

I guess all this quasi-philosophical musing comes to mind on the eve of the Battlestar Galactica wrap party, and realizing just how special this experience has been. As writers, we were challenged to do our best work, in an environment that allowed incredible creative freedom to deal with emotional, political and theological themes. Plus robots, spaceships and shoot-outs. The old axiom "you don't know what you have until you lose it" may be true for some, but I've been doing this long enough to know what a rare and wonderful gift this has been. And I'll always be grateful to Ron Moore, David Eick, the folks at the Sci-Fi Channel and NBC/Universal, the incredible cast and crew, and especially my fellow writers, for making this a once in a lifetime opportunity.

And now... next! Bring it on!

Entertainment Weekly's Top 100 Shows Of All Time

These lists are always "fun", in the sparking-all-sorts-of-comment way, but hey, any list that puts the 2000-era Battlestar at #59 is okay in my book. Read it and agree, disagree and/or scratch your head. (Baywatch? Melrose Place? SAVED BY THE BELL?!!)

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/
0,,20207076_20207387_20207339,00.html

Seagalogy - A Study Of The Ass-Kicking Films Of Steven Seagal

I've expressed my, well, appreciation for the DTV epics of Jean-Claude Van Damme and Seagal before, but Vern from the Ain't It Cool site takes it a step further and has crafted the definitive book on Mr. Seagal's ouvre. But even if your interest in Seagal begins and ends with "who?" and you wouldn't be caught dead spooling up one of his epics, this book is still worth reading, because it's flat out hilarious.

Vern approaches the movies with genuine appreciation, but he also can see them for what they are. In the case of (most of) Seagal's later works, that's crazy, cynical, cranked out madness. What am I saying, that's actually the case for most of his movies! Take On Deadly Ground, for instance, a big budget feature co-starring Michael Caine. It's as berserk as any low budget thriller. Caine insults a reindeer while doing a TV commercial (!), then Seagal goes terrorist and destroys Caine's oil refinery. But rather than landing on the FBI's Most Wanted list, the movie ends with Seagal lecturing Congress (!!) on the environmental perils of... well, not blowing up oil refineries, but something.

Skip a DVD this week and pick this up, it rates five out of five kicks to the groin!

Seagalogy: A Study of the Ass-Kicking Films of Steven Seagal

As We Move Forward...

Haven't been posting much because there isn't much to say. Or rather, much I can say here, and PLEASE don't read anything into that re: a possible BSG movie or movies, webisodes, future series, reissuing BSG in 3-D or Bear McCreary's fledgling career in stand-up. (I finally saw the "documentary" he put together for his live performance a few months ago. Hopefully he'll release a DVD with the show and the docu-drama combined.)

Needless to say, even though there are still 11 hours left to air, BSG is wrapping up for the staff. So everyone is forging ahead with various opportunities, regardless of the short-term prospects. One of the interesting parts of show biz, and often bittersweet, is that fact that almost all of these writing/producing jobs are short term. "Short" can mean two months or ten years, but there's still, inevitably, a definitive end point. If you're involved in an, umm, "unfortunate situation", knowing there's a drop dead end date is sometimes the only thing keeping you going. But when it's firing on all cylinders, pulling the plug just puts an end to something that was pretty cool. Like killing the music at the end of a great party... you know it's time to go, you just wish it could last a little longer.

Years ago I had an acquaintance who would refer to his every showbiz contact as a "dear, close friend." All he had to do was exchange a glance with someone, and in his eyes he'd forged a bond as powerful as foxhole buddies on Omaha Beach. There can be a smarmy kissy-kissy aspect to this racket at times, but this is one case where I think some genuine, un-kissy friendships have been made. And in this crazy world, that's a good thing...

Once Upon A Time In The West...

...AKA one of my all-time favorite movies, is being screening this FRIDAY NIGHT at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It's a brand new print of the uncut version, so this is a rare chance to see Sergio Leone's masterpiece in all its wide-screen glory. Charles Bronson, Jason Robards, and a thoroughly chilling performance by Henry Fonda (!). Interestingly enough, horror director Dario Argento was involved in writing the story, or maybe that's not so odd given Fonda's character. $5.00 for non-members and since BSG is no longer airing Friday nights, I can make this recommendation guilt free!

More info at http://www.oscars.org/events/onceuponwest/index.html

What's New?

Been a busy few days for yours truly, hence the paucity of postings. But the weekly Q & A re: "Revelations" should go up at ComicMix later today (Wednesday), though as you'll see it's difficult to explore the issues raised by the show without getting into spoilers. And I don't get into spoilers. If I were a member of the Legion of Superheroes, I would be Spoiler-Eater-Lad.

Meanwhile, our friends at Galactica Sitrep (url to the right) have a compilation of links to a stack of reviews and hearty back-slaps, as well as the welcome news that ratings jumped dramatically for the half-season closer. Even though good work is its own reward, solid ratings don't hurt, either.

In the update catagory, we're busy getting the final episodes in shape while shooting continues on the finale episode(s). We are careening at high speed toward "the end", which is both exciting -- because we're very, very proud of what's coming up -- and a little sad, since it's been such a great, once-in-a-lifetime experience to be part of this show...

But the best is yet to come!

Battlestar Galactica - What's Next

I couldn't resist poking around the internets a little in the aftermath of last night's mid-season finale episode, "Revelations," to see what there was see. Happily, most folks seem pleased with the episode, and that's gratifying. A few were wondering, hey, how can they top that? Where can the rag-tag fleet go from there?

Well, suffice to say there are at least 11 hours in the hopper that take us "from there," and the next/last round of episodes are, if anything, even more intense and personal than what's come before. All bets are off, nothing's out of bounds, and nobody (I mean nobody) is safe. I realize I'm being impossibly vague, but I think everyone involved with the show hopes that the mysteries and, yes, revelations to come will remain gloriously unspoiled until the next batch airs.

As to when they're going to run, that's the million dollar question, and I have the 50 cent answer: I just don't know. That remains up to the folks at the Sci-Fi Channel. I will say that since we're not even done shooting yet, the simple realities of post-production dictate it's gonna be awhile...

Battlestar Galactica At The Dome 6/11/08

Wow, what a great night. A fantastic crowd was on hand to enjoy a singularly exciting episode of Battlestar Galactica appropriately titled "Revelations." If the embargo on spoilers is actually being honored elsewhere (thanx, Ain't It Cool Guys!) you're certainly not going to get any outta me, but... I've seen the mid-season finale many times, and the power of watching it unfold on the big (make that huge) screen was, well, revelatory. Give writers David Weddle and Bradley Thompson and director Michael Rymer a big hand. BSG has always been a group effort, but they took this baby home and knocked it outta the park, along with the best cast and crew working in television, bar none.

After the screening and panel (well covered elsewhere, like the aforementioned Ain't It Cool News site), assorted BSG folks gathered at the Arclight's lounge and chatted into the almost-wee hours. I had a very nice talk with BSG booster and all around good guy Zak Penn (see his movie THE HULK tomorrow!), and fun conversation with some of the show's very enthusiastic fans.

Anyhow, don't believe me, or Herc at Ain't It Cool -- watch it yourself! Friday night, 10:00PM, Sci-Fi Channel!

Speaking Of Surprises (NOT BSG RELATED)...

Got a nice one in the mail from my good friends at Kufala Records (www.kufala.com), a newly minted live show by my faves Crowded House. It's the 11/17/07 show from Perth Australia, to be exact, and the best part, it was free! A thank you to the maniacs who ordered all 28 (*gasp*) Crowdie shows Kufala released from the C.H. 2007 tour. The letter attached says this surprise release is their way of saying thanks and to make up for any deficiencies in their service, though it always seemed fine to me.

But perhaps the best news is that more live goodness (from the new tour?) may be on the way. And there's always room on M.V.'s sagging shelves for more Crowded House...

Last time I checked all the earlier shows are still available, along with one show from Crowdie front man Neil Finn's son Liam, also well worth picking up. These are fully authorized live soundboard recordings, so totally guilt free! (Though all the other shows aren't "free" free. Open up that credit card!)

THIS WEEK ON BATTLESTAR GALACTICA

It's a busy week for those in BSG-ville. Wednesday night a cluster o'BSG folk and a bunch of press and fans will gather at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood to watch the half-season finale on the big screen, followed by comments from unspecified folks on the dias (if I knew who was going to be on stage, I'd tell you!). Who knows, there might even be a surprise or two in store for those in attendance. Me? I like surprises.

These screenings are always a blast. It's great to see the show with an appreciative audience with big 'ol projection. And it's inevitably more fun working on a show when your stuff is on the air.

Anyway, this week's episode, Revelations (written by David Weddle and Bradley Thompson), follows up on last week's events with some developments that will rock the BSG world. I won't spill any beans, you'll see it soon enough, except to say that by the end of the show, you'll have some idea of the challenges facing the rag-tag fleet as the next and final batch of episodes unfold. (As to when they'll unfold, I have no idea...)

Maybe I Shouldn't Hit "Save" So Often...

A struggling would-be screenwriter sued SBC after a computer technician deleted three screenplays from a hard drive. The writer had no back-ups. Read the article here:

http://news.cnet.com/2100-1028_3-6091457.html

According to the article, the writer pitched his screenplays claiming they would make better movies than Ben-Hur and Schindler's List. Say what you will, you gotta admire the guy's confidence!

(Thanks to Mark Evanier for the tip!)

Tonight on Battlestar Galactica: THE HUB!

Things get stickier yet for the Cylons and our rag-tag fleet in tonight's episode, "The Hub." That's Battlestar Galactica, FRIDAY NIGHT at 10PM on the Sci-Fi Channel!

And next week, the season 4.0 finale... you will get zero spoilers from me, but the lucky eight hundred with tickets will be getting a sneak preview at the Los Angeles Times Emmy event being held at the Arclight Cinema in Los Angeles on June 11. There will be a big-screen presentation of the next week's episode (in the Cinerama Dome, cool!), along with a panel discussion by varied and sundry. I'll be in the crowd along with most of the BSG writing staff, enjoying the show with everyone else.

Meanwhile, shooting continues on the last few episodes of season 4.1 as we march inexorably toward the finish line. (Someone should whistle "Col. Bogie's March" from Bridge Over The River Kwai here.)

Sine Qua Non-ing... and THE HUB!

My commentary on last week's episode has just gone up at comicmix.com, check it out! Also, it looks like co-executive producer/writer Michael Taylor's doing a big-ol' interview for the folks at Galactica Sitrep (url to the right); keep your eye on that site for his august comments.

Meanwhile, this week on Battlestar Galactica, "The Hub." So what exactly DID happen after the hybrid jumped away with Roslin, Baltar and half of Galactica's air wing? Answers await this FRIDAY NIGHT at 10:00PM on the Sci-Fi Channel!

Live DON DIXON & MARTI JONES!

I've been championing Don Dixon and Marti Jones' work for years. Indeed, this very blog celebrated the release of two, count 'em, two new projects just this year. Here's numero three. The fine people at efolkmusic.org have dipped into the past for a fantastic live concert from 1990, "Live At The 1313 Club", a full band, 25 song set with horn section and more. It sounds like the manic live version of "Praying Mantis" (Dixon's one minor hit) that appeared on the album "Notebook #38" was culled from this show. If you've heard that, then you will be as thrilled as yours truly to hear the entire concert. It's download only, a mere $9.95, and well worth the $$ and the bandwidth. Sample it and then buy at:

http://www.efolkmusic.org/ArtMusic/ViewDigitalAlbum.aspx?
ProductCode=1154_12644&AID=1154

Entertainment Weekly Hearts... TIMECOP!

Of all the reviews I might have expected in the 6/6/2008 edition of Entertainment Weekly, a rave for my movie TIMECOP would be low on the list. But there it is, "Damme Good". To quote the obviously perceptive, albeit somewhat tardy critic, Chris Nashawaty:

Take 1994's TIMECOP, a sci-fi mindfreak every bit as awesome as Total Recall or Blade Runner. Just re-released as part of a two-disc "Quadruple Feature Van Damme Fight Pack," along with his Hard Target, Street Fighter, and The Quest - TIMECOP is twisty, smarter than it has any right to be, and lousy with neck-snappin' Belgian justice. Yes, Ron Silver nearly steals the show as an oily Senator who exploits a secret government time-travel program, sending his goons back to 1863 to steal Confederate gold. But it's Van Damme as the decade-jumping cop nursing the memory of a murdered wife (Ferris Bueller's Mia Sara) who sells both the film's punches and pathos. In a just world, I imagine JCVD warping back in time 14 years to accept out apologies.

As awesome as Blade Runner?! (Hey, he said it, not me!)

Anyhow, the new DVD is also the first time (other than laserdisc and the recently released and instantly outmoded HD disc) the movie's actually been available in widescreen, another bonus. And this only proves you never know. Perhaps a critical re-evaluation of my student film, John Boy Meets The Texas Chainsaw Killer (no kidding) is still in the offing...

Van Damme Action Pack Quadruple Feature (Timecop / Hard Target / Street Fighter / The Quest)

Do You Like The Beatles?

Do you like the Beatles? Have a spare $1 million or so? Then this fellow has some records for you!

http://ultimatebeatlescollection.com/index.html

New Smithereens - LIVE 2008!

The onslaught of new Smithereens material continues with the release of Live In Concert, a great set taken from a series of shows done in early 2008. Most of the hits are here, in great sound, and lead singer Pat Dinizio has never sounded better. More info and a set list can be found at:

Live in Concert - Greatest Hits and More

It's BSG Friday! What Does "Sine Qua Non" Mean?

"Sine Qua Non" means it's time for another new episode, of course. Besides powerful drama, you'll also be scrambling for your Latin dictionary! That's Battlestar Galactica, FRIDAY NIGHT at 10:00PM on the Sci-Fi Channel!

EUREKA! Weird Nick Roeg Movie Or...?

It's also a fun show on the Sci-Fi Channel! Eureka writer, good guy and former WGA strike Captain Eric Wallace has alerted me that they're putting together an on-going production blog as Eureka's new season commences. Unlike my sad little effort, their blog actually has photos (the Eureka guys are clearly very tech savvy; over on Battlestar we still use corded phones and refuse to network our systems), as well as lots of cool insider stuff on the show. Check it out at...

http://eurekaunscripted.tumblr.com/

Battlestar Galactica: Crossroads 2 And Those Fake Scenes...

I was going through my old files the other day and came across the "alternate" (i.e., fake) scenes we put together for the end of Crossroads 2, the season three finale, in an attempt to keep our major revelations from entering internet spoiler-ville before the show actually aired. Now that we're half way through season four, hopefully a discussion of events in season three (going all the way back to what we were doing in November/December of 2006!) won't be considered a spoiler...

The whole process of writing these alternate scenes was interesting. On the one hand, you don't really want to waste much time on something you have no intention of shooting. On the other hand, if the scene isn't at least vaguely convincing, everybody will know it's a ringer and you wind up calling MORE attention to the moment. Further, the cast and crew were going to prep the show, at least at first, off these bogus scenes, so they couldn't be wildly divergent from what we were actually planning.

In this case, we had two revelations to mask. The unveiling of four of the final five Cylons, and the back-from-the-dead reappearance of Starbuck. Now, speaking for myself here, I always assumed that people were more or less expecting Starbuck to come back at some point. But the revelation of the four new Cylons, THAT was going to be the real eye-opener.

So our first bogus scene basically fudged that revelation. Instead of the four realizing they're actually Cylons, they come to believe the Cylons brainwashed them back on New Caprica to (possibly) do bad things. (Remember, this is the bogus version. Tigh, Tory, Anders and Tyrol are Cylons, honest, no foolin'.) The scene between the four in the locked room became a rather expository examination of how this might have been done. It actually made sense contextually, because events prior to this scene (the music) certainly pointed toward SOME sort of Cylon revelation.

Starbuck's resurrection was easier to hide; that scene, which wound up being shot in our Vipers on what we call a "green screen" (special FX) day, just didn't exist in the script. (There were a couple different versions of THAT moment too, but that's a discussion for another time.) However, that left the released script without an ending. So the bogus version closed with a completely invented moment. After the Cylons have reappeared and our pilots are getting ready for battle, Lee rushes back to his quarters to grab a flight suit only to be confronted by Tigh, who promptly conks him over the head with a whiskey bottle (!). Leaving Tigh to wonder if the Manchurian Candidate mechanism had finally been triggered, and leaving poor Lee bleeding out on the floor.

As a season ender, not exactly riveting, but like I said, when you're in the middle of a hectic production schedule, you're scrambling hard enough to get the real script finished, you don't want to spend days crafting bogus material. Anyhow, it's all just a curious piece of BSG trivia now...

Speaking of Steven Seagal...

Just rolled through Pistol Whipped, a direct-to-video "action thriller" from 2007 starring big Steve Seagal. Well, "rolled through" is a little euphemistic, the fast-forward button was employed liberally, but there's still something oddly compelling about this stuff. Maybe it's that the stories in these thrillers are formulaic and yet kinda of crazy at the same time, like they're made without all the filters that tend to process bigger movies.

In Pistol Whipped (the title doesn't really mean anything), Seagal plays "Matt", a disgraced ex-cop who somehow has racked up $1.3 million (!) in gambling debts. Lance Hendrikson puts in a (short) day as a mysterious figure who buys up Matt's gambling markers then forces the poor guy to murder various bad guys and "do society a favor." Lance has a bunch of agents working for him who seem equally capable of killing "the scumbags", but for whatever reason he'd rather have the thieving, drunk, debt-ridden Seagal do the deed(s). There are the usual twists, a big and rather boring shoot-out at the end, and a screwy happy ending only available in the "deleted scenes" extras.

Seagal seems a little more engaged in this one, though his strategy for killing the bad guys isn't exactly sophisticated. He walks in, shoots or beats everyone in sight, then leaves. Police are mostly non-existent or hopelessly crooked. It seems bodyguards are about as effective as tax accountants when it comes to defending their crime bosses, and they frequently fall prey to the "talking before they shoot" problem. One idiot has the drop on Steven, but waits to tell him "I'm not going to hesitate!", in the process hesitating long enough for Seagal to kick the crap out of him.

I managed to get through about 50 regular speed minutes, better than most of these "thrillers." Kudos for the opening slo-mo scene that has Seagal spinning awkwardly and shooting blindly behind his back (!) with his sixty-six shooter. (Somehow this looks even sillier in exaggerated slo-mo.) Bonus points for actually showing him reload a couple of times. As for the rest:

Let's see, naked hooker straddling bad guy and diving for cover when Seagal starts blasting, CHECK. Lance Hendrikson has his murder meetings in a giant, deserted theater balcony, CHECK! Seagal breaks a guy's arm and twists the (rubber) fake arm to prove he's tough, CHECK! Yep, it's a Seagal movie all right...

But they lose 30 points (and I nearly lost my lunch) for including a Seagal/cute girl kissing scene. I'll have to watch a week's worth of Battlestar dailies to clear THAT image from my mental palate...

JCVD = A Good Van Damme Movie?! Could It Be?

I never did quite understand what happened to Jean Claude Van Damme after he did Timecop... but he went from big theatrical features to crummy theatrical features to a whole slew of really crummy direct-to-video action movies. I always thought that, unlike Seagal (who I love to watch, but jeez, dude, a pony-tail?), Van Damme had genuine charisma. Still, he seemed hopelessly mired in the "he's a cop/secret agent/disgraced military man, they're the terrorists/racists/nut jobs/dope smugglers who killed his wife/brother/partner/dog/, now they've unleashed HELL!" rut. Until now, that is...

JCVD is a French movie that debuted at Cannes, and if the trailer is any indication, it looks great. Van Damme plays "himself," a broken down action star lamenting his career choices, broke, on the outs with his daughter, who finds himself embroiled in a real life bank robbery (!). It's in the My Name Is Bruce ballpark, but there room for two self-referential movies that make fun of the movie business. I hope!

See if you agree about the Van Dammage...

http://www.joblo.com/video/arrow/player.php?video=jcvdfull

MY NAME IS BRUCE and ComicCon

Bruce Campbell will be doing a panel and showing clips from the long gestating MY NAME IS BRUCE at the 2008 San Diego Show. Come see what (some) of the fuss is about!

And for what it's worth, barring unanticipated events, I'll also be at the big San Diego convention. No idea if I'll be doing something "official" or just hanging out, but hopefully I'll be wandering the halls...

Battlestar Galactica & The Ratings

This seems like good news... guess I'd better read the trades more often.

http://www.syfyportal.com/news425067.html

Battlestar: The Rest Of Season Four Part One

Three episodes remain in this leg of season four-the-last. On 5/30, it's Sine Qua Non, 6/6 brings you The Hub and 6/13 (Friday the 13th) is Revelations. Yes, we did consider introducing Jason Voorhees for a cameo when we learned when the show would be airing, but let's face it, Jason's antics are comic fodder next to the machinations of our rag-tag fleet. I guess the real question is, what will Friday the 13th bring to our shaky little alliance? Good luck? Bad luck? Worse luck? Hmmm...

I also see (hat tip to the always excellent Galactica Sitrep site) that my former employer the Los Angeles Times is hosting a Battlestar Galactica pre-Emmy event at the Arclight on June 11. Since that's literally all I know (the jungle drums from BSG central are evidently on mute), I have no idea who from the show might be appearing, but if it's anything like the last Arclight event, I'm sure it'll be fun. Check out Sitrep for the (so far quite limited) details...

Battlestar Galactica - How It Ends

Great teaser, huh? I guess that's something you learn when you write television! Anyhow, there will be zero spoilers here, but since Aaron Douglas went public with his reaction to Ron Moore's script for the season four ender (which viewers probably won't see until sometimes in 2009), I figure it's okay to chime in and say...

It's simply... amazing. The sort of script where, when you finish, you just fall back in your chair in a daze, then call anyone in the loop and spend hours talking about how satisfying and powerful and (pick superlative of choice)... usually I would be a little mindful of raising expectations or succumbing to excessive hyperbole, but that's not going to be a problem here. Of course, I've seen what's coming up for the rest of season four, and I think it's all mighty powerful stuff (not to mention exciting, heart-breaking, "etc."), but to know it all culminates in something so remarkable... well, the bar for great television just got notched up another level. No kidding.

If that doesn't whet your appetite, nothing will... me, I'm on pins and needles waiting to see the first dailies!

Favorite Soundtracks...

I like movie and TV soundtracks. SOME movie and TV soundtracks. Aside from my collection of Bear McCreary masterworks, seems like I keep buying copies of the same thing over and over as the years pass, trying to find the ultimate, perfect, uber-complete version. Life would be simpler if the studios/composers just released the whole nine yards when the movies were first released, but alas, it remains the collector's fate to haunt movie memorabilia shows when that ultimate masterpiece remains just out of reach. Here are a few I've been amassing over the years...

BLADERUNNER. For whatever reason, composer Vangelis decided not to release his original score at first, so for a long time the only official release was a re-scored orchestral version by the "New American Orchestra." I've heard that one so many times, there are actually a couple moments I prefer to the real thing -- specifically, I'm partial to the re-do's versions of the movie's love theme, "One More Kiss Dear" -- but the subtle musicality of the original is still the best. Various gray market types have unleashed versions over the years ("The Esper Edition", whatever that means, was really good), and Vangelis himself put out a truncated single CD edition awhile back, but until recently the very BEST edition has been a two CD "gray market" release on the "Off World" label with every friggin' shred of music from the movie, even the Ladd Company logo, 103 minutes total. However, now even that's been eclipsed by a new 3 CD, legit edition that includes the Vangelis release, all the other music plus a third disc of Vangelis "inspired by the 25th anniversary." Insane...

THE KEEP. An obscure Michael Mann horror film, I saw this at a special screening on a huge screen when it was first (briefly) released, and I was knocked out by the visual look and the moody Tangerine Dream soundtrack. The movie is pretty wild in a "what were they thinking?" way, and just about as hard to find as the soundtrack (I have the widescreen laserdisc version, as far as I know it's still not out on DVD). The soundtrack was never officially released, but that hasn't stopped various enterprising individuals as desperate as yours truly from cobbling together multiple editions from God knows what sources. I must have six different versions, but so far the best is a single CD edition on the Skull and Crossbones "label" which has the cleanest sound.

FLASHPOINT. Another uber-moody Tangerine Dream soundtrack, this saw a limited release on Virgin records way back in the late 80's/early 90's, and that was fine except the CD quickly went out of print and my copy was an early victim of "laser rot". (Sidenote, out of maybe 12000 CDs, I've only had five go bad from laser rot over the last twenty-some years. Of course, they were all stuff I really liked...) This CD also features one of my absolute favorite soundtrack song genres, the "lyrics that tell the story of the movie" tune. These were very popular in Westerns back in the 50's and 60's (my favorite is still the theme for "The War Wagon" with John Wayne, which some punk band should cover!), so the Flashpoint theme feels like a bit of an anomoly this late in the game. But it's great in a really terrible way. Anyhow, One Way Records re-released the bare bones version of the soundtrack in 1995, but that's also long out of print and goes for $100+ on ebay. I just hope my copy of THAT doesn't succumb to laser rot.

Speed Racer Discussed...

I haven't had a chance to catch Speed Racer yet, and considering the reviews I may wait for the DVD, but here's an interesting article from the Wall Street Journal about the movie's box office troubles and what it may hold for the future. Having seen the excellent Iron Man, I agree with the writer that audiences are more than happy to watch action movies with interesting dramatic scenes between the big ka-bams. It's when the "drama" is dull, cliche or non-existent that you run into trouble...

http://online.wsj.com/article/
SB121098342861200259.html?mod=2_1168_1

Bruce Campbell Talks Monsters and BRUCE

A nice, new interview with BC hisself, covering BURN NOTICE the series, some new HD network showing all monster movies, and a few words on the upcoming (I mean it this time!) MY NAME IS BRUCE.

http://tv.ign.com/articles/868/868813p1.html

BUSY!

Things have gotten a little hectic the last couple of weeks, hence the diminished posting and lateness of my weekly ComicMix gab fest. Besides some personal business and my ongoing BSG chores (today I attended the final mix for the episode airing three weeks from now, "The Hub," which is amazing), as the indicia to the right suggests I'm also writing a feature for Sony Pictures called ARK. This is based on an original comic-book story I created/wrote a few years ago, with some significant alterations, but suffice to say it's a large scope science fiction story that has been a lot of fun to develop. I'm working with producers Neal Moritz (of I AM LEGEND) and Mike Richardson (Dark Horse chief and producer of the upcoming HELLBOY 2) and should be reporting more on this project as it moves along.

Meanwhile, there may be more to report on other fronts in the next few weeks. For now, I'll just say, life can be really interesting... oh, and my other mantra, "it's good to be busy!"

Bits And Pieces...

It's been a busy week, some of it business related, some not, but that's how it goes. Lots of interesting stuff on the horizon but nothing to talk about yet, that's also pretty common in this crazy movie/TV business.

This week on BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, a lovely episode entitled "Guess What's Coming To Dinner." As the title suggests, those pesky Cylons come to visit the fleet and no, they do not stage an impromptu pick-up basketball game to resolve their differences. And there's a whopper of a revelation about half-way through that will likely engender a lot of head-slapping "what?!!!" and/or "Oh my God(s)!!" from faithful viewers.

My comments on last week's episode "Faith" are up over at Comicmix.com, too. A word of explanation on these Q & A's... they reflect MY interpretation of the show. I'd like to think it's a fairly well considered intrepretation, since I was involved in figuring out the stories with the rest of the crack writing staff, but if something doesn't jibe with your own personal interpretation -- that's fine! Feel free to disagree. I'm not laying down the law, passing edicts, writing torture memos or anything else, just chatting about the shows as I see them.

More, *ahem*, "news" as it develops...

Battlestar Episode "Faith" Screens, All Is Well...

Another great evening last night at an undisclosed location in Malibu, where the Battlestar episode "Faith" was big-screened for the BSG faithful. It was great to see so many BSG fans at the showing, which was also the premiere/writing debut for a certain Mr. Seamus Kevin Fahey.

It's a great community out there. Many of the folks who came last night were also regular visitors to the picket line, but when things weren't quite so cheerful. And it's always fun to talk about the whole BSG experience, which is gradually drawing to a close for the staff but not for the audience... a bunch more episodes are still to come. And there are some gut-churning stories yet to come in the FIRST half. Let's just say, things never go smoothly when you're talking human and Cylon... (that CAN'T be a spoiler)...

Was Not Was - Live 5/3/08!

I've been raving about these guys for years, and they're finally back on tour after a 16 year (!) hiatus. They're playing small clubs around the country, so if you get a chance to see them live, now is the time! You won't be disappointed. Meanwhile, if you'd like to hear what they're doing on the current tour, a recent concert was posted at:

http://www.archive.org/details/wasnotwas2008-05-03.mbho.flac16

The Was guys have okayed the taping and dissemination of their live shows, so this is a band-approved download. If you like what you hear, you can support the band more tangibly by buying their new CD, "Boo," which is garnering raves from critics and deserves to do better than the current marketplace will allow.



Need more convincing? Here's a You Tube clip of the boys doing "Walk The Dinosaur", from their recent appearance on the Jools Holland show in England:

http://worldwidewas.com/?p=134

My Name Is Bruce - Finally?

The days-in-the-shooting, years-in-the-releasing comedy epic MY NAME IS BRUCE finally has some honest to goodness release dates, at least for now! (How's that for caveat'ing?) Theatrical release is currently scheduled for October 2008 (Halloween! Spooky!), followed by a glorious DVD release in Jan. 2009.

And even though rumor suggested this was going to happen LAST year, I even posted about it, BRUCE is actually screening this year at Cannes. (No, not in competition. Wise guy.) This time I even saw a screening schedule. Honest. So if you're in Cannes and have a couple hours to kill... well, if I were in Cannes, the last thing I'd be doing is sitting in a movie theater, but maybe that's just me...

Strike News? Oh No!

The SAG negotiations have hit a not-unexpected snag... as usual my pal Mark Evanier has the lowdown on the labor front.

http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2008_05_07.html#015180

Various New(ish) MOVIES!

* Universal's just re-released one of my favorite 70's horror movies, THE CAR, starring James Brolin and a... well, a killer car. I remember seeing this deadly vehicle/prop parked in a storage lot alongside Columbo's rattle-trap when I took the Universal tour in the early '80's. What makes THE CAR actually work (the movie, not the car) is that everyone takes the insane story at face value. No winks, no snark, just people being terrorized by a big black car with red windows. It's surprisingly creepy, considering many scenes are done in broad desert/Southwest daylight. The logic of a driverless indestructible killer car from hell (and sorry if that's a spoiler, but that's what it is!) is a little dicey, but who cares? Still, I would have LOVED to have been a fly on the wall during those script meetings... "and this is where the killer car terrorizes a kindergarten!"

* Val Kilmer's done great work in the past, but he seems to be falling into a Seagal/Van Damme DTV rut recently. His latest film, CONSPIRACY, is a deadly dull formula action movie about a Iraq vet whose buddy gets offed by some desert-dwelling hardliners (led by "Ricky Bobby's" Dad!), provoking the inevitable and rather tedious "revenge." Unfortunately, Kilmer spends most of the movie staring blankly at the camera and occasionally shooting someone. To clear my palate, I popped in SPARTAN for another viewing, written and directed by David Mamet, where Kilmer plays a similar character but to infinitely better effect.

* I've been trying to find a DVD copy of EXTREME CLOSE-UP, a 1973 movie from a Michael Crichton script, directed by Jeannot Szwarc (who coincidentally directed a SMALLVILLE I wrote called "Perry"), but it's been tough. Websites suggested the movie was retitled and issued in the early 2000's as SEX THROUGH A WINDOW, but even that's hard to find. I finally got a copy of SEX today, but... it sure ain't EXTREME CLOSE-UP. Instead, I received a compilation of people having sex (unknowingly, mostly) in front of surveillance cameras. Wonderful. The original EXTREME was an early exploration of the surveillance society, and I remember liking it quite a bit on first viewing. Ahh, maybe one of these days...

More ROAD LESS TRAVELED Reviews!

Thanks and a tip of the MV toupee toward Galactica Sitrep for the info:

A nice write up in New York Magazine, especially thoughtful re: Helo...

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2008/05/
battlestar_galactica_look_out.html

The Road Less Traveled as seen by The Chicago Tribune

Here's the link to a very nice review of last week's BSG episode "The Road Less Traveled" by Maureen Ryan at the Chicago Tribune. Thanks, Maureen!

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/
2008/05/battlestar-gala.html

Two New Don Dixon Releases, And I Feel Fine!

It's always a good day in the Verheiden enclave when Don Dixon and/or his incredibly talented spouse Marti Jones release new music, and this is no exception. "Nu-Look" is available right now as a download, though I believe a CD version will be forthcoming sometime in late May. Doesn't matter, don't wait! It's classic Don Dixon of the "Praying Mantis" variety, solid rockers with Dixon's wit and humor shining through. Don himself says it's "pub friendly" rock, and that's as good a description as any. Dixon produced REM, the Smithereens and a zillion other great bands, but his music gets played as much or more around here than tunes by any of his men-tees. Highly highly recommended.



Also just out, a collection of softer songs and lullabies from Don and Marti Jones. This is a download only release, so don't wait! While I generally prefer the harder-rocking material, this collection is great for those times when you don't need drums pounding 4/4 time in your brain. And Marti Jones' voice remains one of the great treasures of pop music. Samples can also be heard at Amazon, so check them out!

While I'm at it, here's a plea to actually buy this stuff and not steal it off the internet. I doubt Dixon's getting rich off these releases in the first place, but the only way we're going to get MORE good music is by supporting our favorite artists when they make new music.

The Futon Critic, Battlestar and Me...

There is a lengthy interview with yours truly posted today at "The Futon Critic", one of the best TV related sites on the web. This interview was done a couple months ago, hence the lack of spoiler references to season four episodes that have already run. I don't think there are any spoilers at all, actually, just a discussion of how Battlestar works, how I got involved, etc. Check it out at:

http://futoncritic.com/rant.aspx?id=20080501

My Name Is Bruce PICS! 86 of 'em!

For those still curious about our little epic, here's a link to 86 (!) different still shots taken during MY NAME IS BRUCE. Coming to... a theater, television, DVD, via download, SOMEWHERE soon...

http://www.evildeadnews.com/mynameisbrucepictures.html

On Writing and Process...

Interesting piece into today's Salon dealing with what it is to be a "writer." First, read the reader's question and the columnist's answer here:

http://www.salon.com/mwt/col/tenn/2008/04/28/
talent/index.html?source=newsletter

I'm always intrigued by writing theory, and I'm sure many folks adhere to the tenets presented here. But when people ask me why I like to write, I usually quote the W.P. Mayhew character played by John Mahoney in Barton Fink. As in, "I just like making things up." Like many heartfelt endeavors, I think it's possible to both over and under-think the underlying principles of an "artform," be it commercial, personal or somewhere in between.

I knew a writer some years back who considered completing a paragraph of his latest novel a good day's work. Me, I would find that sort of painstaking pace maddening, but his working method required the sort of obsessional dedication (*) identified in the Salon piece. These anecdotal tales often end with "and incidentally, he never sold one of his books", but in fact he did, and his novels (the second, as I recall, took close to ten years to write) were well received, sold fairly well, were optioned for movies, etc.

The Salon piece also talks about writing as a vehicle for self-examination. That, of course, is one perfectly valid reason to sit down at the keyboard. But I've always felt that writing in about communicating, too... presenting your ideas to others because you have this crazy idea there may be some value in your point of view. I suppose that's why I blog instead of scribbling this nonsense in a private journal. I kinda know what's scrambling around in my head; presenting it in a more public forum is the way I exorcise my pesky idea-demons...

I recall another acquaintance, some years ago, who met me for lunch to chat and brought with him a bulky manila envelope. He never once mentioned the envelope or its contents, though. I just assumed it was something he had bought outside the restaurant, but later his wife explained that her husband has spent the last several years writing a novel, but now he was stymied. Because it was done, but he didn't have the courage to show it to anyone. He was so terrified of rejection, of all that effort being denigrated by an outsider, that he was essentially paralysed into inaction.

It's not like I don't understand that feeling. I do think people (especially in the movie and television business) forget that even the most commercial writing venture involve the writer putting some piece of him/herself on the page. When those pages are criticized, it's hard not to take it personally. Indeed, one of the most important skills required of anyone trying to make a career in screenwriting is "how to take notes." Both how to assimilate them, understand where they are coming from, and then how to move on. Anyone who has done television knows what it's like to complete an outline or even a script and then have the whole thing jettisoned because it's just not working. Early in my so-called career, I decided on a "three hour" rule for such (fortunately rare) events. I allow myself three hours to lament, curse, point out to anyone who will listen that my way was right and the world is unfair. Then I force myself to start the next one.

But that's me. I suppose I used to think that writing "for yourself" was a bit of a wank, but these days I'm much less judgemental. Because basically that's what we're all doing, whether it's writing for Battlestar Galactica or poetry or book five of our personal journal...

(*) Re: obsessional dedication to writing, note that instead of sleeping in, I am writing blog entries...

Battlestar Related Stuff...

I've sent my latest batch of answers off to Comicmix.com, this week regarding the fine episode "Escape Velocity", so that should go up on their site sometime Monday. Meanwhile, this week's episode, "The Road Less Traveled", was written by yours truly, so if you have any questions that just DEMAND answers after you see it, I'm your guy. You can check out the trailer over at Galactica Sitrep (see right for the url) or, I think, on Sci-Fi site. Curious about Kara and her much ballyhooed "destiny?" Then the next two episodes are for you.

Meanwhile, production continues on the final five... episodes, that is. And that's about all I can say about that. Though I can promise (yes, scout's honor) that there are still many BSG thrills and spills to come. As to when they'll come, that's in the trusted hands of the Sci-Fi channel folks. So that's one question you might as well not ask me.

This Week On Battlestar Galactica: Escape Velocity!

Things heat up for Baltar and his newfound acolytes, and Tyrol deals with the aftermath of last week's dark turn. Directed by Admiral Adama himself, and written by ace BSG scribe-er person Jane Espenson!

Friday night at 10:00PM on the Sci-Fi channel, with a repeat showing at midnight. See it!!

My New Favorite Band Name...

"Candygram for Mongo", opening for the Smithereens in Los Angeles at the Crash Palace, May 15. Go to crashpalace.com for details, ticket info and more! $20 a ticket, that can't beat. On the same L.A. swing, the Smithereens are also playing Hollywood Park (!) and the old standby, "The Coachhouse" in San Juan Capistrano.

WGA Letter and Financial Core...

There has been some small controversy over a letter released by the WGA leadership last week, identifying the people who opted to go "financial core" during the recent strike. When you choose that option, you are free to work during a strike and, at any point, for non-Guild companies, while still enjoying most of the benefits of Guild membership. Mark Evanier discusses both the WGA's letter and the entire fi-core controversy at his blog...

http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2008_04_22.html#015108

Battlestar Questions ANSWERED! At ComicMix.com!

My latest set of answers to fan queries about last weeks new episode of Battlestar Galactica, "The Ties That Bind," is up at comicmix.com. No spoilers (unless you haven't seen the episode, in which case, watch first, read second!). I believe the site takes questions as each episode airs, then gets them to me by Sunday, so if you want to join the fun, e-mail them after the next show airs and I'll try to answer what comes in...

Smithereens Are LIVE! New CD For May...

Here's the straight scoop on their latest effort, a live record from 2008 that promises to be another high energy slice of rock nirvana. Or something like that. Press release from singer/songwriter Pat Dinizio's site...

KOCH Records is pleased to announce the newest album by rock band The Smithereens.

"Live In Concert - Greatest Hits and More" features music from The Smithereens' four-night stint at The Court in New Brunswick, New Jersey, a musical home away from home for the group, which took place January 30th - February 2nd, 2008.

The band, all hailing from surrounding Central Jersey towns, played the Court Tavern often at the start of their career.

The album features live recordings of two brand new songs, "Any Other Way" and "Since You Went Away."

The set also includes Buddy Holly's classic (and a big influence for The Smithereens) "Well Alright," and the ripping interpretation of the "Batman" theme, a live staple for the band.

For the past 25 years, The Smithereens have toured non-stop, recording and releasing Gold and Platinum albums that spawned Top 40 radio hits such as "A Girl Like You," "Too Much Passion," "Blood And Roses," "Only a Memory" and "Behind The Wall Of Sleep."

But at the beginning of that long and successful road, the loved group spent many sweaty, rock filled evenings in the damp, close quartered basement of The Court.

Live at The Court takes us back to that hallowed ground and brings back the energy and edginess that was present at the beginning of The Smithereens' career.

The club was packed for every performance, and the love and energy for the Smithereens is evident on each track.

This album features the Smithereens in their natural habitat, playing great music for their hometown fans. It shines a light on the love of their fans, and what the group is about.

For more information go to www.officialsmithereens.com

Track Listing:

1. Behind The Wall of Sleep

2. Drown in My Own Tears

3. Miles from Nowhere

4. Room Without a View

5. Only a Memory

6. House We Used to Live In

7. Spellbound

8. Since You Went Away

9. She's Got a Way

10. Yesterday Girl

11. Well Alright

12. Especially For You

13. Any Other Way

14. Top of the Pops

15. Time and Time Again

16. Blood And Roses

17. A Girl Like You

18. Batman

Nana Visitor on BSG and Decapitation...

Actress Nana Visitor, who co-stars in the BSG season four episode "Faith" (look for it in about three weeks), chats about her love for all things Battlestar, her life on Star Trek and getting her head lopped off playing Mrs. Voorhees in the up-coming remake of Friday The 13th. Now there's a pop culture trifeca for ya!

http://www.screengeeks.com/2008/04/21/
breaking-news-nana-visitor-is-mrs-voorhees/

Bruce Campbell's Revamped Site!

Bruce Campbell's rejiggered his website and now it's uber-swank and cool, just like "the man", with an embed of the My Name Is Bruce movie trailer, production details, a spoilerific synopsis and other goodies. Also a new piece of info, that Bruce will have premieres in Portland Or., Los Angeles and elsewhere this Fall. There are also links for Bruce Campbell merchandise and other cool stuff. Take a look at:

http://www.bruce-campbell.com/pilot.asp

Great Review of "Six Of One."

A very thoughtful analysis of the second regular episode of Battlestar Season 4...

http://mattzollerseitz.blogspot.com/2008/04/
bsg-saturdays-season-4-episode-2-six-of.html

The Spongetones Are "Too Clever By Half"...

I've been a fan of the band "The Spongetones" since 1982, when I picked up a vinyl copy of their first album, "Beat Music." Their heavily Beatles-influenced tunes were a welcome reprieve from the droney "new wave" craze of the time, with super clever lyrics and inventive melodies. They've been at it ever since, and "Too Clever By Half" is their brand new effort. More super-catchy, upbeat songs in the Fab Four vein, and a generous sample at that, with 18 total tracks.

If you see a copy, you'll notice a "thank you" to yours truly in the liner notes. The Spongetones have been self-financing their recordings for a few years now, solciting small donations from their diehard fans to pay for studio time, etc. It seems this is becoming the way of the future for niche bands, which frees them from the demands of a record label and provides them the freedom to make music their way. Another local L.A. singer, Jill Sobule, recently raised $75,000 to finance her new collection by selling personalized phone-machine jingles, bithday greetings and doing house shows. Might not be for everyone, but having hosted a house show by the 3/4 of the Smithereens a few years back, I will say it can be a lot of fun!

BSG Episode 415 - That's A Wrap!

We finished shooting episode 415 yesterday afternoon, in time for me to catch the last flight back to L.A. for a little much needed shut-eye. (Not to say production is endlessly grueling, but there can be some pretty long days.) I stole my BSG producer's chair seat back (with my name and the BSG logo) after the last "cut!" and that, in terms of my scripts for the show, is that.

Of course, there's still lots to do, i.e., seven more episodes to hone and shoot, and to be honest this was a great one to go out on, writing-wise. I am precluded from offering even the vaguest hints re: the show's content, but I don't think anyone will be shocked if I suggested the show's journey takes us down paths that would have been unthinkable even a season ago. I mean, could you imagine an episode pivoting on whether it'll be angel food or an ice-cream cake for the big surprise birthday party? Me either, and of course that's not what the episode's about at all...

Meanwhile, THIS week on Battlestar Galactica (Friday at 10:00 PM on the Sci-Fi Channel!), trouble brews among the newly minted Cylons. I will continue to answer a few viewer questions after each new episode over at comicmix.com, so keep your eyes peeled...

On Killing Your Babies...

I was talking with a director friend last night about writing and directing and all that, and it turned out we both had experienced the same odd epiphany over the years. Somehow, it always seems like that one bit that is your absolute favorite moment in a script (or, in his case, a first cut) is inevitably the one that you have to drop, sooner or later.

It really is true. In almost every Battlestar that I've done, I've hatched some curious turn on a phrase or quirky twist on a scene that gives ME no end of pleasure, but ultimately ends up being cut before shooting, cut during shooting or left lying fallow on the cutting room floor.

Now, anyone who writes television or film for a living develops a pretty thick skin when it comes to making changes and/or cuts; there just isn't time to be precious, especially when you're shooting. Just last week, because occasionally scenes will take more time to shoot than you originally imagined, I had a lose a (short) sequence on the fly and rejigger another to cover for the missing plot information. (Trust me, you'll never miss it.) That is the business of production and it happens every day.

But this is different. Why do our favorites, "our babies", always seem to perish on the road to production? I'm beginning to think it's because they are so "personal", in the "this works for me, but only because of my own individual attitude/sense of humor/political slant" sense, and not because the moment is essential to telling the story. I'd like to think I'm "professional" enough not to bend a story like a pretzel just to hold on to one quirky moment. But the truth is, when you step back and take a clear-eyed, dispassionate look at many of these moments, you often realize, huh. We really didn't need that, did we?

That said, as I get all contradictory on your ass, sometimes you DO need those idiosyncratic moments. I remember watching a cut of an upcoming BSG episode where what I thought was an absolute critical, crux emotional moment of the story had somehow fallen out of an early cut. In that case I lobbied for its return, and the scene DID make it in. (When that episode airs, I'll try to point out the scene...) I guess it's all part of what makes this racket so darn interesting...

EVIL DEAD #4! It's OUT!

The final installment in my four part comic book adaptation of EVIL DEAD the movie is on the stands, so pick up a copy, pick up ten copies, and finish the set! This is probably my favorite issue, both 'cause things are in full demon-slaughter mode, and artist John Bolton gives us a killer full page shot of Ash preparing to do battle with the Kandarian bad guys. If the letters pages in the back are any indication, folks seem pretty happy with the end result...

I haven't heard the details, but I suspect a book compilation of the series may be in the offing. Meanwhile, if you're jonesing for some hardcore Ashleigh action, check out the comics!

Six Of One Q & A at ComicMix.com

I just sent along answers to ten questions about the last BSG episode, "Six of One." Look for them to be posted at comicmix.com sometime early this week...

Cool Battlestar Galactica Swag

http://www.quantummechanix.com/bsg.html

These guys have produced a series of fun art-decoish BSG posters, you can check them out at their site. I get absolutely nothing from their sale, but I saw a set hanging around the Vancouver production offices and thought they were cool.

Battlestar Galactica Stuff

First of all, hopefully everyone is watching the new episodes! FRIDAY NIGHT at 10:00PM on the Sci-Fi Channel! 7:00PM Friday night on the SPACE CHANNEL in Canada! We like good ratings!

I'm still in Canada as I write this, supervising the episode known as "415." So, you may be asking yourself, what exactly does the co-executive producer do while on set of an episode? You've got a director, you've got a line producer, you've got all sorts of very talented people doing very talented things. So what's up?

Well, among other things, you are there to help everyone understand the intent of the script (not always as obvious as the writers would like to think) as much as the dialogue. It's as simple (and yet complicated) as explaining the intent of a line of dialogue like, "Follow me. Please." One read is as a simple command. Another might have urgency, "Follow me. Please", like you're begging the other person to come. Or it could be a warning. "Follow me. Please." Because if you do, bad mojo awaits.

It's also about making minor (usually) changes in the script to reflect the reality of the situation. On a show like BATTLESTAR, with many sets and few exterior locations (i.e., "New Caprica"), you'd think that wouldn't be a problem, that we'd have the geography of things down cold. But I'm still surprised by nuances... this corridor is actually wider than I imagined, this room only has one door (could have sworn there were two), etc. Sometimes the adjustments are very minor, a word or two, and sometimes the actual, hard geography can alter an entire scene.

We're also here to enjoy Tim Horton's FINE coffee... but that's another story...

Me, Battlestar, ComicMix

I'll doing a Q & A covering each episode of season four as time permits AND AFTER THE EPISODE AIRS, all for comicmix.com. Folks are encouraged to submit questions to the site and they will pass along the ones they like, though I can't guarantee that I'll answer everything. And I am precluded even hinting at a spoilers for upcoming shows. The first one covering last week's episode is already up, check it out!

What's New In Battlestar Land...

Posting has been light the last few days because I've been spending much of my time on set, helping make sure episode "415" is as chock full of Battlestar goodness as possible. Things are rolling along extremely well and as usual the cast and crew is doing a superlative job turning my scribbles into high drama. It's strange to think this probably won't actually air for months and months, long after I've vacated my palacial NBC/Universal office...

So, what else has been going on? Let's see, I saw Springsteen at Vancouver's "General Motors Place" arena last Monday night, enjoying myself with a sell-out crowd along with Aaron "The Chief" Douglas and the ever ebullient S. McA. from the BSG production office. And the show? It is considerably changed up from the first leg of the tour, lots of new songs, and Springsteen and band debuted a very special request, an outtake from Born In The U.S.A. called "Home of the Brave." I don't think this one even made the "Tracks" compilation, so that was fun.

Oh, and BATTLESTAR IS FINALLY BACK ON THE AIR. It airs at 7:00PM here in lovely Canada (on Space Channel, tip o' the hat to my pal Mark Askwith at Space who does a great job stoking the flames for BSG) so I missed the debut and any parties that may have ensued. Oh well, there's always next seas... oops. At least it was missed for a good cause.

More as it develops...

FAQ re: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA

This is the most exhaustive recap of the series I've ever seen. If you need a refresher course on all things BSG, check this out --

http://www.salon.com/ent/tv/feature/2008/04/02/
bsg_explainer/index.html?source=newsletter

Battlestar Galactica - Episode 415!

Since I'm loathe to even reveal titles at this stage, "415" is the Battlestar episode I'm currently writing and producing in lovely Vancouver B.C. As I type these fateful words, we begin shooting tomorrow with director John Dahl at the helm. I don't want to give away any significant plot details (or any details at all), but two words: no daggits. Sorry.

Anyway, people sometimes wonder what exactly a "producer" does in the pre-production and shooting phases of episodic television. That's a little like asking "what does a banker do?" It all depends on the job description, and how the powers-that-be have defined your role.

On BSG, for the writing producers, it generally means coming up to Canada and attending to all the myriad details that transform the words on the page into something that can actually be shot with human beings on a stage, or created with CGI. When you're four seasons into a show, happily a lot of the decisions have already been made. Costumes are pretty much set, make-up, hair, lighting, "the look" of the show is well established. So at this point we're dealing with the specifics of the individual episode, with the help and guidance and enthusiasm of a host of incredibly talented production folks.

Assuming the actual content of the script is relatively settled (and that's a BIG assume on some shows, not so much on BSG once we get to the pre-production stage), then the main concerns are usually budget, schedule, budget, schedule, oh, and occasionally we have to think about the budget. And the schedule.

BSG is not an inexpensive show (and thank you for the generous budgets that have been provided, Sci-Fi and NBC/U!) but there are of course limits. Sometimes the writers can be surprised when a sequence that may seem relatively simple on the page is actually more complex and costly. Conversely, I'm sometimes surprised by what ISN'T that expensive. And the fixes aren't always that Draconian. Sometimes thousands of dollars can be saved by simply moving a scene from one set to another.

And then there's the shooting schedule. Needless to say, there is not an unlimited amount of time in which to shoot our little epics. I'm always astonished at what our crews and directors can accomplish in the time alloted, but there is considerable design involved in making that come to pass. After you've done this "TV thing" for awhile, you learn to adapt your thinking, to some extent, to the practical realities of production. Some of this is intuitive. If you set a half page scene in a set that you're only using that one time, you're expending considerably time and effort moving crew, lighting and etc. for a very short piece of story. If that same scene could be set in a location you're already using for other work, you've just lopped a chunk of time out of the schedule to be used elsewhere. In well-budgeted features, this stuff isn't so important, but in television it can be make or break, especially if the choice is between the unique location or sacrificing a bit of story.

(As an aside, I was given an education in this many years ago when I was doing an uncredited production rewrite on what eventually became DARKMAN III. I had written a scene where Darkman slammed a bad guy into the hood of a car, bashing him so hard the hood crunched in. I was then given a thirty minute lecture by the director on how impossible that piece of business was; you needed to bring two expensive stuntmen in to manage the throw, you would need to double or triple the bad guy's costume in case it was soiled or torn in the action, you needed to create four or five fake, bendable "hoods" so you could do multiple takes when the first try inevitably went wrong, etc., etc. Suffice to say, this was NOT a high budget production, and I think we wound up throwing the guy up against a tree.)

There are also alterations that happen when you try to put your scenes in the actual physical spaces that have been created for the show. (I.e., "on the sets.") We're all pretty familiar with how things look, but it's easy to forget there's no door over there, or that ceiling is too low for X to happen, etc. Experiencing the physicality of the space really helps adjust to fit the story to the "reality."

So that's just some of what goes on after the script has been written... more as it develops!